November 2017 President's Message

Published: November 1, 2017

President’s Message from the AMTA National Convention | Pasadena, CA - September 12-16, 2017

More great experiences at a National Convention!

My week started on Tuesday the 12th. As President of the MA Chapter, I was invited to the National Board meeting and to the Presidents’ Meeting/Dinner. It was great to reconnect with the Chapter Presidents. We had some lively discussions at our meeting. My main “come away” is that we have a spectacular Chapter with a fantastic Board and Committees. We have such talented people on the Board and in our Committees. We look forward to continue to work and help our members in Massachusetts.

For a recap of the Convention, click here. Watch the video and right around 37 seconds; you’ll see your Chapter getting a photo with Shaun T.

Shaun T! That’s right. He was our keynote speaker for the Opening Session. He was immediately impressive. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Sports Science. He was humble and energetic and said a lot of great things about getting massaged on a regular basis. He involved the audience right away. When he asked for volunteers, he had more hands up than he knew what to do with. He started picking out people but others went up without even getting contagious. He inspired us all by showing how things that we do every day can become mini-exercise routines. It was interesting that when he asked those on stage what they do every day; not one said massage! Well, he got us all doing these moves for each topic brought up. And yes, we were all standing up and dancing. It was fun and inspirational. I was in a good mood for the rest of the day.

AMTA always has great options for classes and this year had so many choices. I chose a variety of classes: two on research topics (definitely check out the meta-analysis completed on massage therapy and pain!), a business class on how to use your heart and head in business, massage and diabetes, and a class on how effective full dimensional breathing can be. I had had a persistent, annoying pain in my right shoulder – and sadly, massage did not help it go away! After we practiced the full breathing technique for just a few minutes, my shoulder pain went away and has not come back!

Did you know that you have access to some of the Speaker’s handouts? Click here to see them. Check out past Conventions for more handouts.

The HOD passed the Position Statement on “Massage Therapy can provide Significant Benefit as a Component of Integrative Health Care.” They also passed the Indiana Recommendation which suggested that chapters should receive financial support for all levels of membership including students. As student memberships are free, National had not been contributing any money to the Chapters. Some Chapters did discuss how it is a financial burden to have student members.

The House of Delegates had its last meeting. It is transitioning into the Assembly of Delegates next year. We have 3 Delegates who will carry over to next year and after that, there will be 2 Delegates from each Chapter.

Leadership training offered different topics for us. The highlight for me was the presentation from our friend, Becca Torns Barker, AMTA CT Chapter President.

We had fun too. We had a couple of Chapter meals, in which we invited MA Chapter members who were at National to join the Board and Committee members for some enjoyable meals. At our Friday dinner, we had over a dozen people! A good time had by all and none of them went away hungry.

Kristen introduced some of us to Creamistry. At Creamistry®, their specially trained Creamologists use liquid nitrogen to hand-craft our premium ice cream, one scoop at a time! We don’t make it until you order it – it doesn’t get any fresher than that! (taken from their website). My coconut ice cream with almonds blended in was quite delicious!

Elections are coming up. We talked about the elections at some of the official meetings.

AMTA 2017 National Elections

While the application process is closed for 2017, there is still some great information for you to learn before election ballots are sent by email on November 15. Learn more about the roles and responsibilities of our national board.

Watch for Your Election Ballot on November 15.

The AMTA National Board of Director application process is closed, and election ballots will be sent by email on November 15. Questions? Contact elections@amtamassage.org.

Speaking of Elections – In 2018 MA Chapter will have elections for:

  • President
  • Board Member
  • Secretary

Our closing speaker was Shawn Achor who spoke of the science of happiness. He has a famous TED talk on happiness, which he did for us and added lots more to it. I recommend that you all check out the 10/5 hospitality rule! Smiles and greetings are so very important.

Another successful and enjoyable National Convention in which we learned a lot and will have even more to bring back to you.